Related Stories

Wine and beer bottles are finally going to hit Ontario grocery store shelves, but not until the end of this year.

Finance Minister Charles Sousa announced Tuesday that the first LCBO Express stores will appear in large grocery retailers by the end of 2014.

“This pilot will begin with 10 stores and we expect to have these up and running within a year,” he told a press conference at the LCBO’s Summerhill location.

The Liberal government first mentioned this pilot project in January 2013. A month prior, in December 2012, PC Leader Tim Hudak argued the alcohol market should be more open, with sales permitted in corner stores.

Requests for proposals were officially launched Tuesday “for large retailers to host these new stores,” Sousa said.

Proposals for Express stores in Ottawa, Mississauga, London, Niagara and parts of Toronto will be accepted up until May 9.

Interested stores “need to provide at least 2,000 square feet of space for the LCBO express store within that grocery store,” Sousa said.

The Express stores will be placed where LCBO stores aren’t nearby. They will be subject to LCBO store hours and will feature LCBO employees.

When asked why it took so long to introduce 10 pilot stores, Sousa said the LCBO has already made “tremendous” investments to increase access.

“We have increased distribution, we have increased retail shops, and we’re doing so right now even more in regards to having them in grocery stores,” he said.

When asked what it means for convenience stores — who already sell cigarettes and have rallied for the ability to sell beer and wine — Sousa stressed the LCBO is “owned by the people of Ontario” and its distribution model “works.”

“The model has effectively provided for huge dividends to invest in education and health care and in social programs,” he said. “It’s owned by the people of Ontario and what the people of Ontario have asked is that it maintain the ownership as it is and enable us to have more access to them. And that’s all we’re doing.”